I’ve spent a little time reflecting on 2009 and it was quite an eventful year. The most notable part of the year was that Hannah got pregnant. After 8 years of trying, this news was almost too good to be true. It took us a few weeks before it sunk in. The first time we went into the baby section department store after learning that it was a healthy pregnancy we felt guilty. We were so use to ignoring the fact that we didn’t have children, going into the baby section seemed wrong somehow. It’s strange the walls you build around your self(s) to shield you from disappointment. Anyway, that is all in the past and we look forward to having a baby in June. Words can not express how excited we are.
Another highlight of 09 was developing our family history. For some years now, I’ve been interested in family history. This blog actually started as an attempt to document at least part of my / our life. Earlier this year Hannah and I had to opportunity to video my Grandma Ann, my parents, and my Aunt Sharon talking about their lives. Later that year we did the same with Hannah’s folks. Over all we captured about 7 hours of video. Through the editing, I’ve had the chance to watch it again and it is absolutely wonderful. Eventually I would like to do this with each person on both sides of our family. We’ve started with our parents, next is their children, then grandchildren. It’s going to be years in the making, but I believe that future generations will benefit from hearing about their lives.
Last but not least was is my race season. My love of training and racing continued to develop. My focus was on getting faster, but mostly on having fun. Triathlon training can be quite complicated. One has to train in all three disciplines at least twice a week incorporating both hard and easy days, increase in volume and intensity until a few days before the race when you “taper” down to allow your body to recover…but not too much or you’ll loose your fitness for the big day. While this formula works, it can sap the fun out of it. The key for me was to do as much as I can, but don’t stress out if I can’t stick to my plan 100%. This seemed to work and I did well in all my races, with the exception of Buffalo Creek which was fun, but I just wasn’t feeling it that day.
This year my focus will change slightly. Having fun will still be my main goal, but I will also be increasing in distance. Another change will be that I won’t be doing any Xterra’s this year. There just aren’t any races that fit my schedule. Just doing road triathlons will be interesting and I’m curious to see how I like them. Below I’ve listed the races I want to do. It seems like a lot, but I’ve spaced them out pretty well.• Feb 26, Snowman Stampede – 10 mile foot race
• June 5, Tune Up Tri – Road triathlon (500m swim, 12 mile bike ride, 3.1 mile run)
• June 26, Slacker Half Marathon – 13.1 mile foot race
• July 17, Tri In July – Road triathlon (750m swim, 14 mile bike, 4 mile run)
• July 31, Laramie Enduro – 70+ mile mountain bike race
• August 28, Utah Half Ironman – Road triathlon (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run)
My “A" priority race is the Utah half ironman with the Laramie Enduro coming in a close second. I think that the other races will be good training for these two main events.
As you can imagine this schedule represents a real time commitment. I structured my workouts so I will do most of my training during lunch or early morning with a few short evenings, so time away from Hannah will be minimal. I’ve discussed this schedule with Hannah in length (when her eyes glaze over, I know that I’ve talked about it too much) and she is behind me 100%. I’ve very luck to be married to such an understanding and supportive woman.**Note: Notice the smile when I’m crossing the finish line. After a disappointing bike and run, I see Jason in the transition area who is fully dressed because he beat me by 10 minutes….AGAIN!
And now your moment of ZEN.....
I snapped this picture on a recent trip to San Francisco. Joe Harrison picked me up and we had the best bouillabaisse I've ever had. Huge prawns, crab meat, muscles, clams, and fish. Truly a moment of ZEN!
